Do You Smell the Awkward in the Air?
by OhGoodnessMarie
Summary: Another series of drabbles. 2. Problems had stuck to Mikan lately like gum on a shoe. A nice refreshing swim always makes things a little better, right? Right. Especially with all the dancing involved. Rated T for language.
1. Capturing the Moment

1. Capturing the Moment

LucaxHotaru

** Author's Note: Hello hello again! So this is kind of a sequel to Well, that Just Tipped the Awkward Scale. I guess. Or another part to it. I hope you understand. :) More drabble-shots! Enjoy! **

It wasn't stalking.

And if you did call it that, she would more than likely hit you square in the head with the famous baka gun. It would serve you right to have a hoof print embedded on your forehead for a few days.

Stalking. Pssh. _Never. _

It wasn't obsession either, so don't even think about suggesting that. Nor hate. Or love. She was indifferent about it, as she was with most things.

_Indifferent_. Got it? Nothing more, nothing less. That was her final word on the subject.

Oh, but you could say love was involved, though. Just a bit. Her love for _money_.

Money was her goal, and Hotaru Imai _never _failed at reaching her goals. Usually. But the three times in her life when she didn't, she acted completely impassive. As she did with nearly every situation. She functioned that way. Simply the polar opposite of her best friend, who was always making an overdramatic scene over everything.

Yet somehow they were closer than macaroni and cheese. The world worked in weird ways.

It was brought up by Koko one day that she should work for the paparazzi in the future, out to catch the most shocking images. It was a playful joke on his part, of course, but it wasn't that bad of an idea. She could do it as a side job.

Her jaw-dropping photos would sell for millions _to_ millions, and that would only be on the weekends when she _wasn't_ running her mega corporation selling her inventions. Really, Hotaru had one of the most profitable alices in the academy.

She was already a pro at taking pictures of people at their most venerable moments while being as silent as a leaf blowing in the wind. Not that she had anything against them.

If there was cash involved, she was there.

That would explain why she was sitting in a tree in the middle of the northern forest.

She was pursuing her favorite photo victim.

_Just_ pursuing, remember.

A single violet eye trailed the head of short blonde hair through the lens of her expensive, high quality camera. It was a task that involved patience, which was certain. Minutes and minutes of waiting for the perfect shot and having fast enough reflexes to actually get it.

The "prey" was a few feet away. She had learned that this clearing was obviously his favorite spot. There were plenty of animals hanging around there at all times, and every single one knew Luca. Sure, he loved the animal barn too, but anyone could walk in on him being… um… using his alice.

Positioning herself at the best angle possible without falling out of the tree or being seen, Hotaru waited eagerly as he approached the groups of animals.

Right away a couple of bunnies and deer had a race to see who could bound over to him the fastest. Raccoons, foxes, birds, squirrels, among many others all barraged him like a dozen snowballs. They sent their love to him and he returned it tenfold.

As soon as this started happening our inventor friend began clicking away. She couldn't wait to put them up for sale.

After a while passed by the boy said his goodbyes to his friends and headed out of the forest. He may have been a happy camper, but Hotaru was by far the more elated of the two. She had gotten quite the collection that time and knew it.

Once he was finally out of sight she gracefully hopped down from the tree branch and reviewed her work. They were all pretty average for a session with the animal alice. As usual he was showing the most vulnerable side he had while hugging and petting the forest creatures with a special twinkle in his blue eyes.

She stopped at one particular picture that stood out from the rest. She had missed the animal in his arms completely, but instead got a close up of Nogi. The twinkle was still present, but there was definitely something different. With this frontal shot it almost looked like he was posing for the camera. His smile was simple. Yet at the same time… it showed more happiness and content than she had ever seen from him.

It was like he was smiling at her.

And for some, completely odd reason, it made her heart race.

Looking around to see if someone would notice though she knew she was alone, she pocketed the picture.

Nope. It wasn't stalking at all.

She was simply… capturing the moment.


	2. Shades of Red

2. Shades of Red

MikanxNatsume

**Author's note: It took forever to find an idea! Aah. So… I guess the pool at the academy has no roof. And in some previous drabble I said it was indoors. Oops. Oh well! That was a little part! This is a whole thing on it! Oh, and this is pretty much in between chapters 95 and 96! Enjoy! :)**

She always had a love for swimming.

It made her feel like a fish, even if it was just the chlorinated academy pool. She could be as carefree as she pleased while under the water. But then again, she was like that all the time. There were lanes to swim in, but she ignored them. She refused to have any boundaries.

Usually she would be enjoying her time with her best friend, but the inventor alice was still going through her basic lessons, and unfortunately not improving much. The older Imai sibling had resorted to making his sister wear floaties on her biceps and three inner-tubes around her middle to keep her afloat.

Meanwhile, Mikan wore a goggle-mask that covered both her eyes and nose, enabling her to breathe as she drifted aimlessly beneath the water. The blazing summer sun made silver light dance on the concrete floor. That was her favorite part. She felt as though she could watch it for hours.

And it seemed so… untouchable too. She felt like she would never come in contact with the beauty that was happening seven feet below her.

She dived down a foot or two, grateful to the fact that not many students went this deep so she wouldn't be bumping into anyone. In her mind she concocted a mission for herself. To reach the waltzing light at the bottom she admired so dearly.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a disruption in the gentle waves, bluntly meaning someone had just jumped in near her. It didn't bother her in the slightest, though. She was more than capable then sharing and the unknown person was probably five feet above her by then.

She messed around for a little while, pretending that she was a mermaid and letting her imagination take the reins. It was weird. On land, all of these complicated problems kept following her. But here, in her dream-scape of a world, everything was going perfectly.

Well, it was. Apparently the fellow academy student was closer than she thought. An arm went past her field of vision in a flash. It was kind of difficult to see everything around you with the mask on, but she was positive she saw _somebody_. Now she just needed to know where they were and how fast she could separate herse-

"_Natsume…?" _There was no need to question it. She could probably recognize him anywhere, though she wasn't very aware of this ability. His dark hair swayed lazily and he appeared to have the same goggles as her on. She smiled in spite of herself. If he was swimming then he was obviously feeling better. Lately he had to sit out, and it seemed immensely boring to watch everyone else have all the fun.

Suddenly he noticed her. She snapped out of her daze suddenly in surprise. For some reason she felt like she had been caught sneaking a cookie out of the jar before dinner.

He swam closer, and she couldn't help but wonder what his thoughts were at that moment. Did he want something from her? Had she done anything to him lately? After contemplating for a moment, her mind drew a blank. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So…?

He hovered in front of her, his expression as tough to read as ever. If Mikan was an open book, then Natsume was the reverse; a chained up diary in a locked trunk. She cocked her head to the side in question. All he did in return was stare at her, successfully making the brunette even more puzzled then before.

She decided on copying him and watching his face thoroughly too. It wouldn't help her understand his motives any better, but really didn't know what else to do at the moment.

Hmm… his eyes really were a firey red, huh?

Of course everyone knew that, but she had never seen them look so… _incredible_. The light from the bottom she was so desperately trying to reach covered not only his entire body, but reflected in his eyes too. Being so close, she could see them as clear as day through the plastic protecting them.

Crimson. Such a beautiful, rich, radiant crimson that outshone every other shade of red out there. The blue water surrounding made them even _more_ prominent then on land. You could say the color stuck out like a nice ripe strawberry in a field of blueberries.

She had never gotten so genuinely lost in his irises before. She almost didn't want to be found.

One of his hands slowly inched toward her face. Needless to say, his sudden movement was a bit shocking. She had no idea what he was about to do, but she knew for a fact that he wouldn't hurt her in any way. For some reason, she trusted him entirely.

The back of his hand gently collided with her cheek. The caress was as smooth and soft as silk, and she subconsciously melted into it. With his brilliant eyes still trailing her face and her own closed, she didn't know how long they both stayed like that, but it seemed far too soon when the warmth of his skin left her own.

It may have been a mirage of some sort, but she thought she may have possibly seen a small smile on his lips before he turned and swam away. Watching until he was out of view, she then went up to the surface. Still a little paralyzed from the recent events, she bobbed up and down for a while. It took a few minutes to remember how to breathe properly.

The familiar voice of a classmate smashed away all of her deep thinking.

"Mikan-chan! Over here! …Why is your face so red?"


End file.
